4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Mattias
Fear woke me as it rolled through the bond I’d forged with my mates. Sharp spikes that grew in intensity as I sat up to check on them and found only one in the bed with me.
How had I missed Kes slipping away?
Not far. Still indoors and restless.
I should have trusted that my dragon would know where our mate was, even while I slept.
As gently as I could, I drew Caspian into my embrace and held him close, hoping it would soothe the dreams that plagued him.
Both of my mates suffered from nightmares I hoped they would someday share with me but now was not the time to ask what they entailed.
He needed rest if he was going to guide us on the long journey back to the rest of his herd.
Yes, you should have.
My dragon’s smug response irked me, the cocky jackass.
Did dreams chase him from the bed, too?
No, fear did.
I’d felt a twinge of it earlier, more than once, now that I thought back on the day we’d shared.
The first time I’d felt Kes’ fear was when Caspian requested that we complete the mating bond.
The second was right before the actual mating.
Had we pushed him too far? I worried now that we had and feared he might regret it.
Touching base with him was harder than it should have been.
There should be no walls or shields between mates, yet there was one swirling around Kes that kept me from being able to connect as deeply as I longed to.
I couldn’t let that stand. I would have to address it with him before what happened to Ronan happened to Kes, which would not be acceptable.
Even after their mating, Ronan had attempted to keep a wall up between himself and my brother.
When he’d been snatched from behind the diner he worked at, Odem hadn’t known anything was happening to Ronan until he’d been contacted by Mable.
Precious time wasted. Had Ronan not proven to have the ability to wield lava bombs, the result might have been entirely different…and utterly devastating for us. As they learned of us discovering our mates, the attacks had come more rapidly and with greater ferocity as they tested for weaknesses.
Caspian jerked, a harsh gasp spilling from his lips as he fought the blankets and my hold on him. Instinct said hold tighter, so I did, and pressed my chin against his shoulder so I could speak in his ear without getting headbutted.
“Wake up, sweetheart, you’re having a bad dream, that’s all. No one is trying to hurt you or keep you from getting to your mates, you’re already here, exactly where you’re supposed to be.”
Another sharp intake of breath and he jerked, crying out loud enough that the next sound I heard was the thundering echo of footsteps on the floor rattling the walls.
I heard plaster hitting the stone floor, then wood splintered as Kes came through the door mid-shift.
Now I understood why the footsteps had grown unusually loud the closer he’d gotten to the room.
His dragon roared, icy breath sending a coat of frost over everything in the room.
Caspian opened his arms and Kes nearly knocked us both off the bed in his haste to let Caspian hug him. When I pressed my hand to Kes’ neck I could feel him trembling the same as Caspian was.
“Whatever has you both riled up tonight, it’s time for us to sit and talk about it,” I insisted as I caressed Kes’ scales. “Can you shift back for us? I promise that there is nothing in here that you need to freeze.”
It didn’t happen all at once, Kes was too keyed up for a smooth shift. He returned to his human form in uneven increments before sagging in Caspian’s arms.
“S-sorry,” he stammered. “I heard Caspian and my dragon took over. I was making cocoa but I’m pretty sure at least one mug landed on the floor.”
“I’ll worry about that later,” I insisted. “Material things are replaceable.”
Even his hair felt like ice when I stroked it, he’d been that riled up.
“How many mugs of cocoa were you making?” Caspian asked as we got Kes settled on the bed.
“Three.”
“But we were still sleeping,” I said. “What made you think we’d be awake to drink it?”
“Just a hunch.”
“Uh-huh. We need to talk about where that hunch came from.”
Kes looked everywhere but at me, until I cupped his cheek and stroked it.
He jerked away like I’d burned him, whipping his head to the side so his hair covered half his face.
That’s when it dawned on me that the eyepatch he always wore must have fallen off during his shift.
As much as it pained me, I doubted he’d have this conversation with us until he felt completely comfortable.
“Do you want me to find your patch?” I offered.
I felt Caspian inhale, then hold it, the same as I did while we waited to hear Kes’ answer.
A short, sharp shake of his head was what we received in lieu of words.
In the silence that followed, I wrestled with whether I was pleased that he was choosing to trust us, or terrified that I’d lose control of my dragon when I saw what those bastards had done to him.
My dragon was already simmering near the surface, our shared outrage rumbling along the connection between me and my brothers.
Mattias, report!
That was Ionus, always in general mode. I’d never appreciated it until our enemies had brought the fight to our doorstep. The rest of my brother’s voices followed, sounding louder than a herd of rampaging rhinos.
Of course they do, we’re dragons, not puny armored cows.
Stand down, brothers, please, everything is okay here, I explained. If I couldn’t get them to shift out of protector mode they’d come storming through here doing more damage than Kes already had. My mates and I need to work through a few things, that’s all.
Understood. You will let us know if you need us.
With Ionus, I never knew if it was a question or an order and doubted I ever would.
I will.
“Are we alone now?” Caspian asked.
“How did you know I was touching base with my brothers?” I asked.
“It’s hard to explain.”
“The energy around you changes,” Kes muttered.
He hadn’t moved any closer. For now, I’d consider it a triumph that he didn’t move further away from us.
“In what way?” I asked.
“Just, I dunno, it changes when all of you connect. I noticed it right after we first arrived here, but it’s never felt as strong as it did tonight. Nothing has ever felt as strong as the energy signatures I just picked up while you spoke to them,” Kes explained.
“Was that the first time you were able to read the energy signature of another dragon?” Caspian asked.
“No, it’s always been something that I could do, even when I was small. It gave me an unfair advantage when playing hide and seek but Upalo and Canyon never cared that I could always find them.”
“And other’s too, I suppose.”
Kes nodded. He still refused to look at us. His fingers dug into the sheets, gathering the fabric in bunches that he crushed in his fists. I was almost afraid to touch him again when his shoulders started quivering, fortunately, Caspian didn’t hold the same fear and caressed his arm.
“Whatever it is, please don’t be afraid to tell us,” Caspian murmured. “It won’t change anything between us. You’re our mate. We can help you if you’ll let us.”
He didn’t flinch when Caspian touched him, he just shifted closer so Caspian did too, widening his knees, until Kes wiggled between them, though he still kept his head down and wouldn’t allow us to see his face.
“I…” The long breath he blew out was followed by another, lighter one, before he blurted something so jumbled I couldn’t make it out.
“I need you to repeat that,” Caspian said, “because I didn’t catch any of it.”
“Neither did I.”
Another long breath, this one sounded pained.
“I don’t have to be awake to pick up on the energy signatures of other dragons,” Kes finally admitted. “In fact, it’s easier when I’m asleep because my dragon is able to search for them among the snow and frost without me distracting him.”
“You mean like my connection with the water,” I surmised.
“Exactly that.”
“And your nightmares?” Caspian asked.
“Sometimes they aren’t happy about being found,” Kes explained.
“What did you find tonight?”
“A familiar presence, one I’ve connected with before in my travels.
A dragon encased in a block of ice thicker than any iceberg I’ve ever encountered,” Kes explained.
“He reached out to me through you, Mattias, but not, almost like, like he was using a link he had with you to get to me, only that’s not quite it either.
I don’t know. I’m not explaining it right. ”
“That’s okay,” I said, gently running my hands up and down his arms to steady him.
We had Caspian pinned between us, with Kes’ head resting against my shoulder, so we were all touching one another. Maybe that was what made his energy flair, because I felt it rush through me, just as he’d described, before it fizzled when Kes moaned and pressed his hand to the side of his head.
“What happened?” Caspian asked as he looked around our dark room like he was seeking signs of an enemy hidden behind the drapes or armoire.
“Are you alright, Kes?” I asked as Quint asked me the very same thing through our link.
I’m not sure.
Is there something I can help with, brother? I felt you both reach out to me.
I’m not entirely sure why that happened but I will explain as soon as I’ve ascertained enough information to explain more.
I’ll be waiting.
Thank you, brother.
“You were communicating with one of your brothers just now, I felt it and so did the dragon in the ice. He’s aware, but so frozen that he’s unable to do anything but wait.
There isn’t enough air for him to melt his way out.
It’s pressed in all around him, to the point where he has not been able to move in centuries. ”
“I was conversing with Quint,” I explained.
“Oh…owe, owe, owe, that fucking hurts,” Kes said, rubbing his temple. “Every time I get too close to the dragon in the ice it’s like there’s someone stabbing an ice pick through the connection until I have to back off.”